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Southwest monsoon brings more rains than Ondoy

The amount of rainfall brought by the southwest monsoon over Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon has surpassed the rainfall dumped by tropical storm “Ondoy” in 2009, an official from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)’s disaster prevention and mitigation system office said Tuesday.

This figure is higher than the 24-hour rainfall of 455 millimeters recorded by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) at the height of Ondoy from 8 a.m. on September 26, 2009 to 8 a.m. the following day.

PAGASA said torrential rains experienced over much of Luzon, including Metro Manila, were caused by the southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Haikui, last spotted 300 kilometers northeast of Taiwan.

Scenes of flooded streets over the past two days have recalled the disaster in September 2009, when tropical storm Ondoy left at least 464 dead in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Different time frames

In his Twitter account, Lagmay said that while the accumulated rainfall due to the southwest monsoon is already higher, Ondoy’s rainfall “was compressed over a shorter period (of) time.”

Meanwhile, GMA Network’s resident meteorologist Nathaniel Cruz noted how DOST’s measurement of the rainfall from the southwest monsoon and PAGASA’s record of rainfall from Ondoy were taken during different time frames.